Colorado Rockies / MLB

From Black Betsy to Wonderboy: The bats that built the game

The bat Babe Ruth used to hit the first home run at Yankee Stadium on April 18, 1923, fetched $1.265 million in a 2004 auction, but one of his jerseys from 1920 went for $4.4 million in 2012. (Associated Press file)

Rule 1.10 (a) in the Major League Baseball rule book states: "The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2¾ inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood."

That's just the beginning of the story.

Bats have always played a central role in the personality, history and mythology of baseball. Babe Ruth swung a mammoth 36-inch, 46-ounce bat made of ash. Roy Hobbs carved his bat out of a tree split in half by lightning, burned a lightning bolt on the barrel and called it Wonderboy. Shoeless Joe Jackson's prized bat, the legendary "Black Betsy," was 34½ inches long, weighed 40 ounces and was made of hardened hickory. Jackson soaked it in oil to give it a dark finish. He held on to the bat until he died in 1951. It was sold at auction in 2001 for $577,610.

The exacting Ted Williams is said to have shipped some bats back to Louisville Slugger because the lathe operator made a mistake of five-thousandths of an inch when turning the handles.

Following are three baseball tales featuring bats:

Bigger than Babe's

In 1978, when Rockies color commentator George Frazier was pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals' Triple-A team in Springfield, Ill., he made a trip south to the Louisville Slugger plant to buy bats for his teammates. While there, Frazier asked a representative to "make me a bat bigger than Babe Ruth's."

"So he made me a 46-inch, 48-ounce bat," Frazier recalled with a laugh. "It says 'George Frazier' on it and we put a model number on it that says 'GPGF-1.' "

In 1984, when Frazier was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Chicago Cubs, he took his war club with him.

"Me and Lee Smith used to take batting practice with it at Wrigley Field," Frazier said. "It's funny, because 'Smitty' was the only guy strong enough to get any bat speed with it to hit the ball anywhere. He was launching balls onto the street."

Frazier keeps his cherished bat at his home in Tulsa, Okla.

"I show it to people and they can't believe it," Frazier said. "My grandson, Cooper, is 6 years old and the bat's taller than he is."

"The Holy Grail"

In 2004, the bat Ruth used to hit the first home run in the original Yankee Stadium was sold at auction for $1.265 million.

The 36-inch, 46-ounce bat, once billed as "The Holy Grail" of sports memorabilia, made history April 18, 1923, the first game inside "The House That Ruth Built." Ruth christened the new ballpark with a third-inning blast into the right-field bleachers in the Yankees' victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Ruth later donated the bat to the Los Angeles Evening Herald as the top prize in a high school home run-hitting contest. The barrel still bears Ruth's inscription: "To the Boy Home Run King of Los Angeles, Babe Ruth, New York. May 7, 1923."

The home run champion was named Victor Orsatti and he held on to the bat until his death at age 84. The bat was willed to Orsatti's caretaker, who stored it under her bed and in her closet until putting it up for auction.

Pine tar incident

One of the most famous tirades in sports history erupted July 24, 1983, at Yankee Stadium when George Brett's home run was — temporarily — disallowed because Yankees manager Billy Martin convinced umpire Tim McClelland that Brett used too much pine tar on his bat.

When Brett hit his ninth-inning, two-out, two-run homer off Yankees closer Goose Gossage, it gave the Kansas City Royals a 5-4 lead. But the clever Martin figured he would call on an obscure rule to change the game's outcome.

The MLB rule book states: "The bat handle, for not more than 18 inches from the end, may be covered or treated with any material or substance to improve the grip. Any such material or substance, which extends past the 18-inch limitation, shall cause the bat to be removed from the game."

Brett's bat was examined, found to have pine tar more than 20 inches from handle and Brett was called out. Brett went ballistic, sprinting toward McClelland and Martin. Brett was ejected, the homer was nullified and the Yankees won the game 4-3.

The Royals, of course, protested and American League president Lee MacPhail ruled the home run should have counted, and declared that the game must be resumed.

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